Range Backpack – A Daypack that ticks all the boxes

I have purchased all materials, patterns, workshops, etc. myself. All opinions are my own.

For my trip to India, I wanted to make a new daypack to take with me. I decided on the Range Backpack by Noodlehead. I had heard a lot of good things about the pattern and instructions and it ticked a lot of my boxes. I had a few requirements:

The right size. Not too big, but big enough to hold a liter of water, a guidebook and an extra layer

Waterproof. We would be traveling to the rainiest place on earth

Good-looking. I have a couple backpacks in different sizes from Osprey, but I’m just not into the hiking look when sightseeing in cities

Somewhat theftproof. We would be visiting busy tourist hotspots and I’d rather not have to worry about pickpockets all the time

Theft-Proofing

To make it more theft-proof, I decided to add a zipper at the top opening along with a little loop near the end. This would allow me to thread a small locking carabiner through the zipper pull and the loop to secure the zipper shut. I also extended the top by 5cm to be able to fold the opening over once, to make it even harder to access.

Of course, these modifications won’t help if I leave the backpack somewhere unattended. But it should be enough layers of deterrents when I’m just walking around.

The top extension would also come in handy a couple of times when I wanted to shed a few layers as the day warmed up or when doing a bit too much shopping. In those cases, I could just leave the top unfolded and gain some extra room.

Water-Proofing

To make the bag (mostly) waterproof, I used a PU-coated fabric. I found a great dark gray Cordura with PU-coating, which has great waterrepellent properties.

I knew sewing through it would be a challenge on my domestic machine, especially when a few layers came together. For this reason, I got some beefy Microtex needles to use for this project. In the end, I used the 110 size and they worked out pretty great. At some points my machine had trouble, but I took it slowly and we made it through together.

I debated using seam-sealant tape to waterproof the seams as well, but decided against it. I was running out of time and figured the waterproof fabric would be good enough.

In the end, it did proof to be good enough. We even spent a night sleeping under the stars in the desert and everything got soaked in dew by morning, even the outside of my backpack, but the inside stayed bone dry!